Courtney: Heavy Deadlifts and a 2:13.08 1/2 Marathon
- Remdiner there is No Open Gym this Friday due to the Community Potluck
Courtney’s Testimonial
“I’ve been slacking off on running for the last couple of months for a host of reasons – coming off of training for the NYC Marathon-that-wasn’t, starting a new job, it’s been insanely freezing, blah blah blah: all of these are excuses. Really, CF has replaced running for me because I like CF so damn much. I had signed up for a 1/2 that I ran today, for which I was sorely undertrained. I went into it thinking that I’d take it easy and just do the best that I could, and that it would be an interesting little physiological experiment to see if CF-ing 3x a week without really running at all could prepare someone for a 1/2 marathon.
Call it asinine or call it crazy that I ran today – definitely more the former, though partially the latter – but not only did I finish with a PR, I didn’t hit a wall, experience terrible pain, or even feel that fatigued throughout the whole race.
I entirely credit the strength that I’ve developed as a result of doing CF with helping me to finish the race. Also, during races, I get really corny and think about how fortunate I am to be able to put one foot in front of the other, and I was also thinking about how lucky I am to be a part of the awesome and totally kickass CFSBK community.
It’s time for me to remove the ice from my knees, end my gushing and pass out, but for real, CFSBK – much love.” -Court
_______________________
Recommended Reading: “Feet First” by Bill Starr CrossFit Journal
UMM
CALEB WILLIAMS:
Age: 28
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 160lbs
Region: South East
Back Squat: 722lbs
Front Squat: 489lbs
Bench: 485lbs
Deadlift: 615lbs
Snatch: 282lbs
Clean and Jerk: 366lbs
Fran: 2:10
Diane: 2:00
Elizabeth: 3:20
Cindy: 31 Rounds
Amazing
I'm still down and out due to an ankle injury, hope to be doing something soon as I'm actually giving myself a week to recover.
Catchup:
Freaking LOVE the shirt we did for Nick! Make The Erg Cry is seriously one of my favourite lines ever. Thank you @GinaG and team!
Music: I finally get to see the Sonics in April which is huge – never had the chance. Other than that not sure. This is going to drive me insane.
BIG FAT NOTE: Except with CFSBK I've kept the deets on my mum on the DL. For some reason in my fantasy brain I think that if I don't really talk about it nothing bad will happen. Anyway, whatever good vibes the SBK community can beam towards the W. Coast is desperately needed today and for the next 7 days while testing is happening. My mum is still in hospital, over a week now, and they can't find a diagnosis for what ails her. Today at 9:15am our time they are taking bone marrow – are narrowing down to blood cancer or leukemia. Hopefully neither and she is an alien. We have many strong bodies and big warm hearts at the box so please whatever anyone can spare – zoom it her way. xo
@JB I really wish you the best through all of that. I'll say a prayer for your mom.
JB, healing thoughts and much love.
Bench press 100×8 (damn, 8 is a long set!). WOD 5:05 w/24kg bell and knee pushups. I kind of wish I'd stuck to strict pushups, although I suspect the WOD would have taken me twice as long.
MGMT — I left concert tickets in envelopes for JB and Steph P at the front desk, in case anyone's wondering what's in there.
Reading about Caleb Williams… holy cow! Really impressive.
My favorite line is: “The first time I coached him in person, back in September, I had him show me his handstand walks. He kicked up and went 50 feet on his first attempt. When I asked him how long he had been practicing he said, ‘About a week. I learned while I was in the pool with my kid.’”
If only I could just pick up skills while hanging out in the pool… I'll put that on my "dear Santa" list.
hugs to you and your mom, julie.
Caleb's been putting up big numbers for a while now, first in Powerlifting then Weightlifting.
The dude is cockstrong, but I do find it a bit silly that they posted equipped numbers for his squat, bench and Deadlift. He's not likely to be wearing a squat suit or bench shirt while doing anything crossfit related. That said he's done ridiculous shit like squatting 550×6 raw and there's no faking the Oly numbers
Speaking of ridiculously strong. Ray Williams 905# squat. No wraps, no belt, no suit, just plain ol legs like tree trunks. Oh and it's his second meet ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgV8qM0vwrI
I would love to see someone perform in the CF games in their squat suit.
6am with Nick and McDowell. Warmed up and did a ton of mobility work: front rack stretch, hips, ankles and abductors. Then took Fran down in 4:10: a 31 second PR and and 45 seconds faster than my last attempt. I usually feel unbearable fatigue start to hit in the middle of the second round, but today everything felt smooth and afterwards I felt ok, not destroyed. I give props to Coach Nick and the CRASH-B training for this performance.
I think this guy Caleb Williams is PROOF that there are aliens among us! Maybe, there is something (good and special) in his hamburgers we don't know about?
He probably takes 4 fish oil capsules instead of 3 daily.
@JB,
Finding out a loved one has cancer of any kind is incredibly scary, and I wish you, and your mom, the best. I know this is likely a small comfort, but doctors often let statements like this get lost in the shuffle: As to leukemia, please do not let that word scare you more than you already are. Leukemia comes in many different forms, and can be remarkably treatable. My father has been living with a more aggressive form of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia for over 4.5 years now, another friend of mine is living with CML using a genetic therapy. She needn't be an alien to get through this.
I'm glad that you posted that Cloyde, re: Ray. I read it this morning in the Dr's office and was totally pleased when they said he has a 905# squat and a 700# DL. I'm glad I'm not the only one with the muscle imbalance.
I also like that he eats cornbread and collards for his training regimine. And that Mt. Dew is a weakness. Haha.
@ JB my prayers are with u and your family
@ COURTNEY YOU ROCK GIRLIE THAT IS SO MOTIVATING CONGRATS!!!!!!!
and about CALEB WILLIAMS those numbers are mind blowing!!!
good article about him at http://70sbig.com/blog/2013/02/meet-the-man-who-squats-905-raw/
FP#22
Squat
255×3
295×3
335×3
Adductor felt ok, still a little tender at the bottom, but all the reps jumped up
Snatch Grip DL
320×5
365×3
405×1
Did deads with the snatch grip because it sounded fun. Even 405 felt snappy
Luca,
That's Ray Williams. Great link though. Hadn't seen that video yet.
Woof.
Good call Hersch!
Parents will be out of town for 6 nights. You can come visit me at Camp Bow Wow LIC. I have my own kennel.
Bark.
Before I joined CFSBK I used to run a lot and a friend had me sign up for a half marathon. That was around November of that year and the race was March or April. Around the same time I also started foundations and as my attachment to CFSBK waxed, my running waned. In the couple months before the race I was lucky if I got in a 5-miler in a week. Nervous about the race I went anyway and ran 1:54 which I think is a pretty respectable, especially for a first timer. Point being:
HELL YEAH COURTNEY!!
Good work.
On a side note I literally put on 4 pounds in France and had additional post-challenge realizations (although zero regrets about my prodigious croissant consumption). Very excited to get back on the platform tonight and see if all that carbo-loading pays off.
Total next Sunday, come!
@herschel i was replying to cloyde and sarah la rosa's posts. i guess i should have made who 'him' was more clear
Psh, you dogs need to get with the change in subject.
<3
Thanks for posting the article I was actually referencing, Luca.
Stella – Thanks for posting that chicken recipe yesterday. I have been in a recipe rut, and it sounded delicious. Said chicken is currently roasting in my oven and smells AH-mazing!
Noon class today.
LBBS: going linear this cycle!
wu: 45×5, 75×5, 105×5, 115×3
work: 125x5x3
tried out Bethany's WL shoes — thank youuuu!!! — and LOVED them. makes such a big difference. ordering mine asap.
WOD:
3 rounds NFT
-21 wall balls (12#, 9')
-1/3 mi run
nice lil workout, all felt pretty decent
spent a good 30 min post-class on accessory stuff:
-jumping into handstand (20 total jumps)
-calf and achilles streches a la Coach Fox
-LAX ball on tibialis anterior and in between shoulder blades
5:30 with Jeremy and Josh.
First bench exposure of new cycle–going linear as I have minimal bench press experience.
[45×5, 95×5, 125×3] 145x8x3
This was unpleasantly difficult for a first exposure, and a weight I thought I'd clear easily. Will be conservative next week and moving forward. Could've just been an off-day, though.
6:34 on the metcon. My chest was, by this point, totally wiped. Nothing left in me on the push-ups. Happy to do all the swings unbroken, American (@24kg).
Will be doing Fox's pull-up progression this cycle to try and break through my plateau there.
Doing the intermediate version with overhand grip. 6×3 with sixty seconds in between, then 4×5 kipping following that.
Did back squats. I squat, like, every day at open gym, so I opted to go for a heavy 10+ instead of 5×3.
LBBS: 285×16. I think I could have gotten 20, but my shorts started to fall off.
PM Strength, volume back off:
Squat 45×5, 95×5, 135×4, 185×3, 225×2, 255×1, 275×3
Press 45×5, 75×4, 95×3, 115×2, 122.5×3
Dead 135×5, 185×4, 225×3, 275×1, 300×1,1,f
—
Weighted sit ups 40#x10x3
Squats and presses went up super easy, love a single set of heavy triples after all those heavy 3x5s started to beat me down. Don't know what is going on with my deadlifts, couldn't clear 3 singles with a few seconds rest at what I expected to be a manageable weight.. I have started sitting back into the pull a little bit which is helping me keep my back set, but I run out of juice pretty quickly. Could just be finally getting glutes/hams firing properly instead of lower back and might need to build up strength there. Could also just be all the heavy leg volume lately. We'll see what happens come Sunday!
Julie: All the best to your Mom…
Courtney: You were brave just to do it and that's freaking awesome.
The 905 squat RAW is ridiculous. Wow.
________
Strength Cycle,"five of fives and five of fours"
Squat: Israeli pyramid, week 2, day 1:
235×5, 275×5, 295×5, 275×5, 235×5
The last rep of 295 really got stuck– I got very soft at the bottom. No bounce on reps 3 and 5. My bounce used to be a strength of mine, but it has become indeterminate.
Bench: 197.5 x 4×5 (Steel week 4 day 1)
Solid overall. Probably should have just done 200, but this is fine as it's already 5 pounds over the Rx for the program.
That was that. 10 work sets takes a while.
Amy: YAY!
I have another batch marinating for tomorrow night. This time I did not make the mistake of halving the recipe, so there will be LEFTOVERS. YES.
Also beaming vibes for JB's mom. Fingers crossed for that alien diagnosis.
Squat: 45×5, 135×5, 225×3, 270×5, 270×5, 270×5
Run: 1 mile
First off total positive vibes to JB and family. Continuing of my reset of my linear progression. will try to squat 3 days a week, 2 LBBS and 1 FS. Weights moved fine, still felt a bit heavy coming off the long break but we'll get the groove back. The run/wall ball workout was horrible. Tested my knees out to see how they felt. No knee pain so I that's a good sign, of course it's bad news since I can start running again. It's the WORST. My running style is about as efficient as a chicken with its head cut off. Good times.
Aw shucks, y'all. Noah, Rob, and Nancy, and DO for posting, thanks!!
Noah, exactly. I've been feeling kind of meh about running as I've gotten to be more active at the box (though I did have a sense of "this is actually really fun" during the race) and had the same trajectory from Foundations and then beyond. Was happy to finish and not pass out in a puddle. 🙂
That Ray Williams is just TOTALLY ridic.
7:30
bp: (45×5, 95×5, 135×3) 165×8, 175×8
wod: 6:18 w/24kg, ring pu's
Monday's 6:30 class: worked up to 215# paused HBBSq